


The Little Merman

by didsomeonesayventus



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, F/M, Gen, Little Mermaid Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-27 16:58:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14430096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/didsomeonesayventus/pseuds/didsomeonesayventus
Summary: It's a tale told far more than twice. About the boundary of land and sea, the sacrifices made in the name of love, the bitter yearnings of what the heart cannot want and how it will anyways. Sit down, let me tell it again. About a boy from the sea who loved a girl from the land, and every bit of flotsam and treasure that became tangled in their net.Little Mermaid AU, rewrite of an older work.





	1. Prologue

A far, far away from any sea that has been charted and a long, long time from the most recent sunrise, there was an archipelago surrounded by a sapphire sea. The Destiny Islands were a peaceful dot on the horizon, drifting along as they were wont to do. The people lived off of the paopu fruit and the ocean’s life, the bounty of the boundary of land and sea and stretched no further than the reefs, and the people felt no avarice for what lay beyond.

The residents instead found themselves rumor-mongering about what lay deeper into the reefs, the people whose bodies glittered with scales and had no need for the wind or land. People would catch glances of tails too big to be the fish they would normally haul onto their canoes, hear songs that no elder or youth had known in twilit hours when the sea was calm or in the middle of the fiercest typhoon.

Some had little care for such tall tales, but others swore up and down about these creatures existed. Born from the union of a woman and a fish, born from blood and seafoam, born when lightning struck the waves, no one could agree and no one explanation was wholly like the other. 

Those who agreed they existed in the first place had little to go off of for what purpose they were even allowed to. Were they spirits of the sea, sent to ensure that humanity did not exhaust what resources they had? Were they apex predators, ready to gobble up the unsuspecting and drowning sailor and merely sating their hunger on the local population of fish?

Questions turned towards uses: Could these people serve as guides? Could they talk, think like humans, or did they take after their water-breathing counterparts? Were they safe to consume? Was it even right to? Did their bodies provide just nourishment or potent medicine? The island was a serene place, but serenity, complacency, these were only breeding grounds for ideas to take hold in their hearts. Some of the traders from other islands were boasting of bones and hair and scales that had come from sea people, about properties too good to be true, and the islanders began huffing and humming about whether this was a trick. But the scales were unlike anything they had seen, that was proof enough of something peculiar to make the argument carry on.

The sleepy silence of simple life and pointless debate was broken early on in Kairi’s life. Ven told her first, her father, Lea, and his, Terra, were both part of the rescue party helping him find a home as they gossiped in the shade of a paopu. A boy, white haired, washed ashore like driftwood. He spoke in soft tongues, an accent distant from their own, but at least it was understandable. From where he had come from, he had no answer, and the people came to assume the trauma of the journey had stolen it from his memory, and with time they found other things to gossip about. 

Because strangest of all was how wide a berth this strange boy gave the water.

...

You see, these people of the sea were a very real phenomenon. Their fantastical nature was... perhaps not quite as fantastical as so many had hoped, but they existed. Living off of mussels, clams, the fish too stupid to stay with their school with the occasional wrap of seaweed and sticking close to the edge of the reef to avoid- as they called them -landwalkers.

The landwalkers were remarkably dangerous.

They only saw them one or two or maybe three at a time, but they always grabbed far more fish than that number would even need. The nets were made of something coarse and strong, something that took a genuine struggle of teeth and tugging and fury to escape. Their attempts to replicate it with seaweed turned up weaker, but they did find it made a few things in their lives easier.

Roxas and Sora’s father thought they had escaped the landwalkers that had taken their mother. They crossed the sea to escape the reef where they had been spotted, to spare his children- or himself -of a similar fate. With no mother to sing songs that calmed the storms or lured in prey, they were left with the less effective baritone of the father. They needed a refuge until the young boys could find mates of their own and break off to forge their own ripples in the sea, and that refuge was known to them as “Halcyon”. Landwalkers, as they understood, called it “Destiny Islands.”

Roxas was old enough to know what had happened to their mother, but Sora was not only younger, but a dreamer. He did not know to fear landwalkers yet, and found himself fascinated by the baubles left behind by them. Seashells carved into beautiful beads, polished down just to the glimmering mother-of-pearl, metal worked into shapes that he found his eye tracing over and over.

So it was Sora drifting along currents and looking for food or useful materials while Roxas learned the siren trade from their father. He was young, and so his supple tenor proved more effective in drawing unsuspecting creatures into the waiting arms of- for them -certain doom, lulling the rough waves glassy smooth. They settled into a sort of peace, unsteady as a table wanting a leg, but steady enough.

Roxas and his father avoided the surface as much as they could, stuck to the grottoes and crannies of their new home, but it was Sora- dreamy, curious, naive Sora -who was perched to sunbathe on a rock and able to watch landwalkers. 

He knew nothing of the fear, knew nothing of the danger, and just watched these strangers with two scale-less fins move along the sand with the same ease he swam through water with. He watched a man with red hair dart back and forth between a place where people traded some things for others, and between deeper into the island jungle and elsewhere with planks of wood or bundles of dried leaves. He watched a woman with brilliant blue hair collecting coconuts and star shaped fruit and giving them to the landwalkers that arrived in hollow trees that glided across the sea for their own wares.

It was the beginning of the end when two girls and a boy crossed his gaze one day. Of course, one of them demurely hopped along with her skirt billowing behind her in the ocean breeze, giggling at the more lively antics of the boy who- rather oddly -looked very much like Roxas, if a bit more round and not quite as muscular.

But the ruby-haired girl, oh, how Sora’s heart sang when he saw her. She was sun-kissed and radiant, lively and vibrant. Sora looked at the sea behind him, then dove and circled back around towards shore. He gathered what he could, something sparkling, something beautiful. Sometimes the wave tossed things at him as if the sea itself was cheering him onward, and he compared accordingly.

In the shadow of a rock, far too deep into the shallows, Sora let his gifts go to be carried by the waves. He watched, the pit of his stomach gnawed with a sort of anxiety he had never known. His gifts washed up long after the landwalkers were gone, but he lingered and hoped they would come back.

The boy picked it up. His voice was hard to understand: the same language but with far different pronunciations, afflictions, further distorted by distance. The accent was too thick for Sora to do anything more than squint, for now. It at least hid his disappointment, at least until the ruby haired girl came into view with a basket of the star shaped fruit.

She was even more beautiful at a closer look, and if only Sora had known the lengths he would go to be even closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I actually have a pretty clever little mermaid style story on my ff account but anything on my ff account is utter garbage in terms of the actual writing since I wrote it in highschool so I've been trying to rewrite this and I just realized this bit is basically a chapter + makes a good prologue so hi please encourage me.
> 
> If you have read the original: hi. you're a devoted fan. thanks. this is not going to be a 1:1 remake if the above hasn't made that obvious BUT there's gonna be similar story beats so shruggo
> 
> Also I'm. pretty sure I've tagged the biggest players in the story but the cast is susceptible to expand as I write more chapters and involve more people. I don't WANT to tag everyone since I know it's hella annoying to sift through all that, but I think if a character has some decent relevance I'll probably tag them down the line.
> 
> I also keep forgetting that if you add a AN on the end of the first chapter before you have a second one it hecking. puts it at THE VERY END no AO3 stop that >:I


	2. Tranquility

Roxas hummed, slowly making progress on a few trevallies that would make their evening meal. As he coaxed the fish close enough, he sighed. Father had been gone for a week now. He didn’t know what to do, if he was even coming back. The weight of being an older brother was starting to weigh heavy as he began to think about what next. He didn’t know all the songs, he didn’t know if there was anyone of their kind in the next several waves. They could wait, sure, but there was no plan in case waiting wasn’t good enough.

If they were alone, it was a big, big sea that awaited them.

Roxas had to forget all of that the moment Sora bumbled in, moving at the speed of a tsunami in a whirl of blue and glittering... something. The fish Roxas had painstakingly lured in came to its senses and fled in a streak of reflected light.

He sat there in disbelief before turning to follow the trail of bubbles Sora was leaving behind.

“Sora?!”

Sora swam onwards and tinkered with something in his hands, hidden by the slap of his tail in the water as he- he was heading towards land. Roxas kicked his tail and propelled himself into Sora’s path and watched his brother scramble to a stop. Sora fumbled with the latest of his scrap sculptures and ended up holding it behind his back as if that would undo what Roxas had seen.

“Hi.”

“What are you doing?”

“There’s... uh... a really great spot for clams over that way-”

“You know what father’s always said-”

“Don’t go into the shallows.” Sora started swimming around Roxas, shrugging his shoulders with a blithe smile, “But come on, I’m sure you wanna-”

Roxas swam around to in front of him again, “Sora, it’s dangerous-”

“Well maybe it isn’t!” Sora swam around Roxas. He held himself stiff with fear, but a chin stubborn in pursuit of what he wanted. He waved a free hand around as he began slinking onward, “I mean, there’s other fish in the shallows. I-I think I saw a mantis shrimp-”

“Sora, you know we keep as far away from those as possible.” Roxas watched him come to a stop with an unimpressed glare. Sora rolled his lip in his teeth, likely adding to the slightly calloused flesh around that very corner. He never did teethe properly. Roxas held out his hand, “Hey, could I see?”

Sora turned, cradling the object still out of sight, “No-”

“I wanna see what my brother’s been up to. Beats remembering lunch has been delayed.”

Sora stared out to sea for a moment, still pensively chewing at his lip.

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Biting your lip like that.”

“Am not.”

“You’re bleeding-”

“AM NOT!” Sora yelled, kicking away, hiding his creation behind his back again. A small cloud of red floated into the water from the corner of his mouth. He pouted when Roxas swam in closer to wipe at the new cut.

“Our teeth are way too sharp for this, you know that.” Roxas muttered.

Sora started swimming again, “Okay, well, maybe I should go and-”

“There’s nothing in the shallows that is better than what we already have.” Roxas cut him off again. This dance was getting tiring.

Sora’s tail flicked. He rolled his arms around a little, slowly turning around to show what had been held so gingerly in his grasp. It was a loose net of chains, a rainbow of metal and patina and rust and algae. A gem- red, shiny, and that was the extent of Roxas’s knowledge -sat in the mess.

Roxas leaned in, folding over and squinting, “What is-”

Sora yanked it from his sight only to pull it over his head, and soon enough the chains settled over his chest and shoulders, the gem settled somewhere around his solar plexus. “A necklace. It’s a necklace.” He explained. After a moment he took it off just as quickly. “Was gonna dump it off somewhere and forget about it.” Roxas reached for it, and Sora pulled away. His chin jutted out, nostrils flared. “I’m not a kid anymore. I can do it myself.”

He kicked off, leaving a cloud of sand behind.

“You better come back before the tide changes.” Roxas called after him before he went back to his singing, projecting his voice into the lonely waves in hopes of a decent meal before he lost his chance.

...

The palm leaf beneath Kairi’s arms bent under her weight, but didn’t do much else. The wind tousled her hair, the gulls cried out for reasons she could never know. The view was the same. Always the same, that ever expansive blue glass of the sea, rippling with waves that could very well drag her under easily tipped with frothing white, shining in the midday sun.

“Kairi! Kairi, did you get all of them?”

She pushed herself up and looked down at Ventus, who was tapping his foot, a basket of paopus under one arm. “Been a bit.” He huffed.

Kairi grabbed a fruit, gave it a tug, and tossed it down, “Ok, and?”

Ven fumbled with the fruit, juggling it and stumbling with it before tossing it to their basket. “We can’t wait around all day, you know.” He climbed up on the trunk himself reaching up for a lower hanging paopu. “You know my mom’s gotta have made lunch by now, and that means traders are gonna be coming soon.”

“Well I don’t think there’s anything left.” She huffed. She slid down and bounced along the sand. “Come on, Ven, if you’re gonna whine about how hungry you are-” She paused when she spotted a familiar shape walking down the beach, a net of supplies hung over one shoulder.

“Riku!” Kairi ran down the beach, laughing as she jumped into his arms for a hug.

“Hey!” He giggled in return, rolling back to catch her but staying as firm as steady as ever.

Kairi pulled back, hand on his shoulders, lips pursed, “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

Riku’s grin became lopsided with guilt. “Yeah.” Kairi sighed as he edged out of the embrace to walk over to his raft. Her frown deepened as he loaded his belongings and began untying its mooring. She observed him push it to the edge of the sea, pausing to give Ven a firm handshake that turned into a hug, laughing about what was probably their latest joke. Kairi watched Riku get on the raft, and meticulously use a pole to shove off out to sea without getting wet. Even years later, water drove him in ways ordinary fear could not.

Kairi waded in after him, “Here, lemme help.” She pushed it out with him, but only in one hearty shove. Her fingers traced the grain, “You sure you wanna go?”

“You know this is how I make my livelihood here.” He replied.

“Yeah, but...” She leaned onto the boat, walking with it to anchor it to the shore. Her pout became just a tad deeper, “You know that the Calmtide Celebration is in a few days-”

“I know, but Kairi, this is the best time to-”

“Well, let the fish get fatter. I’m sure missing a few days can’t make that much of a difference.” She huffed. “You’ve missed it every year since you started fishing.” She paused to count on her fingers. “Riku, that is almost a decade.” Kairi was in the water up to her chest, her arms folded on Riku’s raft, her toes digging into the mushy sand as a last, desperate anchor. 

“Do you really have to?” She asked once more. “You’re always gone longer than you’re here.”

Riku nodded, “Sorry.” He patted down her hair, “Promise I’ll be back for the-”

“You always say that and you always break it!” Kairi beat her hands against the raft. She leaned back, bringing the raft with her for just a moment. “Come one, this year you could-”

“Kairi- Kairi hey you-” Riku scrambled as the raft tipped a bit, desperate to not touch a drop.

Kairi let it settle back into the waves. She leaned her head against the wood. Her breath tickled her forearms. “I just want you to stay for once...”

Riku looked away, just for something he could distract himself with, then he quietly grabbed something from the basket he used to store his supplies, “Hey, I know just what the sea would love this year.”

Kairi lifted her head just as Riku pulled out a yellowed pillar candle interlaid with hexagonal combs, and she gasped. Her hand reached out to take it as he offered it, and she laughed in surprise, “T-this is- W-what do they call it again-”

“Beeswax. Straight from Radiant Garden on the Hollow Atoll.”

Kairi kept darting her fingers over the candle. She brought it close to her nose, deeply inhaling the floral scent that they couldn’t come close to making on the Destiny Islands. She scrutinized it for a moment, blue eyes lit up in thought, then she hesitantly said, “I-... Maybe I could cut this in half... Keep a bit for myself.” She then sighed, muttering hurriedly, “G-gods, Riku- Riku, how long did it take you to save up for this? It must’ve been a whole year at least I- I shouldn’t-”

“I won’t be mad, no matter what you do with it. It’s yours now, Kai.” Riku told her. He brought out another candle, and gently placed it in the water where it bobbed and dipped in the waves, anchored by his fingertips on the wick. “I figured it’d make a decent offering this year, even if I can’t be there. Floats out and brings a little more light to the sea.”

Kairi leaned up and hugged him, “Thanks.”

“Hey, no problem.” He held her back just as tight. “Maybe keep a lookout for my light, ok? I’ll look for yours. How about that?”

Kairi pulled away, bouncing back in the waves to release Riku and let him sail out to sea. “It’s a promise!” She giggled.

Riku smiled, waved, and then, with one hand on the tiller and the other grabbing the sail, he slowly vanished on the horizon. Just like he always had for years now. She was always proud of him for doing it, given his aquaphobia, but his absence was always bitterly felt. He’d be gone for a week out in the waves to fish, and Kairi could only assume it also included trading with other island colonies. What he brought back to the islands, though, was always an uncanny level of quality. The drydocked boy had a knack for the trade of the sea, and the irony was palpable among the residents.

“OW!” She doubled over, lifting her foot from whatever she has just stepped on. Swears were muttered, mostly at herself for getting so wistful. She didn’t see anything red yet, so that was a good enough sign, but she did see something glittering. Then she saw red, but it was too bright to be blood.

Her hands pulled out a tangled mess of chains adorned with a single- well, she supposed it was a ruby, but gemstones were rare so she didn’t know any better.

She smiled. Maybe she could pay Riku back sooner than she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thus you learn why riku is tagged here because he sure as heck wasn't namedropped in the last chapter lmao. Or maybe you don't given I've brought him in and ushered him away wow I wonder if he's ever coming back.
> 
> anyways I'm really glad I've made that prologue and set up because lemme tell you this is basically where the previous version started and I'm so happy I can use merculture and family stuff I've set up ~~(even if its hella vague lmao)~~ to make Roxas Less of an Asshole (tm) because BOY does he come across as a little too assholey in the original lmao.


End file.
